Preparing for Barbie

As soon as we started looking for a horse, we set to work on the pasture. There was a long list of things that needed to be done.

The first thing that we started was an electric wire on one side of the pasture. We drove some fence posts into the ground with a ramming tool, and attached some plastic insulators for the wire.

One thing that took a long time was cleaning up the burn pile. The burn pile was filled with nails and screws from long-burned up wood. I used a tiny magnet on a stick to clean up some, but then got frustrated and started shoveling the ash into a garbage can. That was way more effective!

My little sister and I inherited a plastic watering bucket, but it was covered in algae. We used a power washer to get most of it out, and then switched to scrubbing with sponges until it was finished. It took a really, really long time.

The shed, in which we were planning on using for hay, was filled with old boards covered in nails that were left over from abandoned projects and the ground was littered with moldy hay. We threw out most of the boards (not wanting to clean up the nails!) and raked up and burned all the hay.

We were a little concerned about a weed in the pasture that we thought might be poisonous that had spread like crazy, so we took it to D&B. After getting the help of five different people, we finally discovered that it was Yarrow, which is harmless to horses.

We were really glad when the work was done, and now I’m grateful that we did it ahead of time!

Click here to read about how Michaela worked hard for her very first horse.